To the Otherworld and Back
by Keito-san
Summary: Not many people spend their lives wanting to fight evil for nothing in return. Anne was one of those few. Rewrite. Rating subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a rewrite of a fanfiction I wrote years ago. This time it's based more in the comic-verse and is less... pedo. Long story short I had a fifteen year old version of my OC hooking up with Abe S. Once I realized how terrible that was I deleted it and rewrote it. So here. If you would like any pronunciation guides, please ask. :)**

My family has always been atypical, at best. We can trace our oddness back over a thousand years, with a Priestess of Niamh, Celtic goddess of water. Niamh granted my ancestor the ability to control water and mist, and in exchange, my ancestor would by a vessel on earth for Niamh. This gift was passed from mother to daughter, as long as they worshipped the old gods of the land, and not the new ones. My ancestor promised her this, and the long line of Niamh was born.

My full name is Niamh Anne ni Manannan. Every firstborn daughter in my family has been named Niamh, since the priestess had her first daughter. I tend to go by Anne; it makes things a lot easier at family reunions. Currently, I work at government office in Augusta, Maine as a secretary. It's boring work, mostly paper pushing and filing. I would love to be a field agent in the BPRD, but despite my knowledge in folklore and mythology and my "gift", budget won't allow it. So until then I bide my time in this position. It's boring, but a job is a job and it pays the rent.

April in Augusta was the worst. You never knew if it was going to rain or snow. Today, it was both. In the morning, it had been snow. By the time I left to grab lunch, it was to rain. Now, as I was leaving after a late night, it was snowing again. The plows and sanders were out in full force, but any taxi service was done for the night. Not that I blamed them. Oh well, public transit it was.

I made my way to the bus stop and tried my best to stay warm until the bus came. I was thankful that I had the foresight to put hand warmers in my bag before I left for work. I shoved them in my mittens and stomped my feet to check if I still had feeling. Goddamned bus was late again. Probably stuck behind a plow. At least I was prepped for the cold.

Outside of the plows, there was silence. All of the shops had shut down long ago in favor of going home. I was the only thing braving this mess. Or was I? There was a mewling noise, but it stopped. Probably just the wind going through the alley.

But now there was yelping. It sounded like a puppy in pain. As much I wanted to go home, I couldn't let a puppy stay out in this cold. I ducked down into the alleyway where I thought the noise was coming from. I dug through my back for a flashlight that I was sure I had stuffed in there one day. I found it and shown the light down the alley way. The thin light caught two eyes, a short snout, two paws, and two… flippers?

Oh no way.

No. way.

Not in Maine.

A dobhar chu.

Part of me wanted to flee in terror. Dobhar chus were known was vicious killers and attacked without mercy. But this one was tiny, just a pup, with a huge gash down its side. I set down my bag and flashlight and offered out my hand to it. It crept forward to sniff my hand. I stroked its head and it cooed.

"You poor thing, who did this to you?" I murmured to it, scratching its chin. I took off a glove and summoned water to me (not particularly hard right now). I placed my hand over the wound. I felt the blood coursing through the dobhar chu's veins, rushing the healing process. Muscle and skin knit back together and soon the wound was gone, and a pink scar was in its place. The dobhair chu let out a little bark as it examined the new scar, then licked my hand. I smiled.

"Alright, little one, let's say I take you home and feed you. Just don't tell anyone what you are."

I opened my jacket a little and put the little pup inside. He cooed again and curled up against my chest. I smiled. Once I got over the shock of seeing a dobhar chu, I found he was rather cute. Sort an otter and dog pup mix if you can imagine that. I picked up my bag and turned back to go to the bus stop.

Then I saw Mama Dobhar chu.

They're not so cute when they grow up.

Mama was surrounded by three pups, much larger than the one in my jacket. All of them started to snarl and bare their teeth. It suddenly dawned on me. A bunch of hunters and fishermen have been going missing or found mauled. Mama and pups were the reason why. Now they moved toward residential areas.

Shit.

Mama lunged at me. I instinctively ducked and threw up a shield of snow and water. I ran out of the alley and straight into a big, red wall of something. I bounced back and landed on my butt. I looked up and saw I ran into a big, red demon carrying a very large gun.

"See a big, scary looking otter dog thing?" it asked. I nodded dumbly and pointed back at the alley. The pup inside my jacket squirmed a bit. The demon went off and his companion, a fish guy, offered his hand to me. I took it and stood, a bit dazed at the turn of events. Then I came to another realization.

"BPRD…" I muttered, looking at where the demon went back to the fish man. "You're… You're part of the Bureau…"

That's the last thing I truly remember. I was in a state of shock. I remember making my way into a converted garbage truck, then falling asleep curled up on the seat with the dobhar chu still in my jacket.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, I was still in the converted garbage truck and the dobhair chu pup was still nestled up to my chest. I sat up, feeling my neck and back pop from sleeping too long in an odd position. The blue fish man was next to me, reading a book. I looked around myself, feeling a rush of excitement and nervousness.

"Ah, you're awake," the fish man said. I nodded, unable to take my eyes away. He offered his hand out.

"I'm Agent Abe Sapien," he said. I took his hand, cold and a bit damp, and shook it.

"I'm... I'm Niamh ni Manannan, but you can call me Anne... I prefer it. And this..."

I gestured vaguely to my chest as the dobhar chu popped out of my coat. He licked my chin and cooed affectionly. I smiled sadly. If I had managed to get back to my apartment without running into a BPRD agent, I supposed I would be able to keep him, but now...

"Well, I haven't given him a name yet... I suppose I shouldn't. You'll want him."

Abe Sapien looked thoughtful. Well, I assumed it was thoughtful, but his face was harder to read than a normal humans. I took the dobhar chu out of my jacket and put him on my lap. He looked up at me questioningly.

"I suppose we will want him, but for now we need to question you. What you saw and what you did to get away," Abe said.

I froze. I must have left the wall of water and snow up. That, on top of the healing I did and a general lack of practice, was what left me so exhausted. The shock of seeing several mythical creatures probably didn't help either. Abe noticed my reaction and eyed me cautiously.

"I... I understand. I... I have some questions though. Where am I and what time is it?"

"We are still in Augusta. Don't worry. We don't kidnap people. It's about 4 o'clock in the morning."

I sat back and absentmindedly pat the dobhar chu. I looked out the tinted window at the slush that was still coming down. Good thing tomorrow was the weekend.

"You want to know about what I saw?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Do you have some water or something? I'm a bit parched. Then I will tell you what happened."

I felt Abe move get up to go get the water. I used the few seconds to think. Was I going to tell the truth or not? If I told the truth, then maybe I could offer my services to the BPRD. But then again they might want to keep me for research. That's what happened to mom at the beginning before she proved she was sound of mind and capable of controlling her powers. If I lied, I could miss the chance being thrown at me, but go back to living my life. But I would never be able to apply to the BPRD again. They would also take the dobhar chu away, and I had grown attached to the little guy. But then again, they would probably do that no matter what.

Abe came back with a bottle of water. I opened it and took a large sip of it. I sighed and turned to him. I told him the truth, all of it. Lying never suited me, I decided. He listened, taking a few notes here and there, but looking rather unfazed by all of it. It was strangely relieving to have someone else know outside of my family. At the end he closed the notebook. He reached out to try to pet the dobhar chu, but it growled and bit his hand. He pulled away quickly with a curse, clutching his hand.

I gasped and immediately grabbed his hand. There were small puncture wounds where the dobhar chu had bit him. Blue blood began to trickle out of them.

"Well I guess I get you see what I can do," I smiled. I summoned water out of the bottle and wrapped it around his hand. I heard him gasp in response as the skin started to heal itself under the water. I pulled away, finished, but more exhausted than ever.

"That's... That's amazing. We have someone like you back at HQ. I'm sure she would be glad to meet you."

I froze again, feeling my heart leap up with hope. I became cautiously optimistic. "What are you suggesting?"

"I am suggesting you return to our base with us. We would like to contain the dobhar chu and keep him for research. And it seems we won't be able to get him back without your help." Abe waved his now healed hand with a smile. I open and closed my mouth for a few times.

"I... Sure. Beats my plans for the weekend."


	3. Chapter 3

A quick stop to my apartment, five and a half hours, and a few new puppy mishaps, I was being escorted through the BPRD facilities by Abe Sapien. The red guy, whose name I learned was Hellboy, disappeared for a shower as soon as we got out of the truck. The facilities were sparse and not as grand as I originally expected, but they were decorated with various enchanted objects and memorabilia from past cases or special events. Part of me was jumping for joy, the other part was ready to let loose of my bowels in fear. It took all of my energy to keep walking forward and keep a grip on a wiggling puppy.

Abe led me into a lab and asked I put the dobhar chu on a table. A few lab techs came over, donned in full hazmat gear. The dobharchu shrank back and bared his teeth at them. I jumped up and back to soothe him.

"Shush, it'll be alright. They need to make sure you're healthy, shhhh, shhh. I'm here."

I continued to make cooing noises and pet him while they weighed him, drew blood, and a variety of other things. I can't quite remember how long it took; I was dead tired and ready to pass out. When the lab techs finished, the dobharchu looked about as tired as me.

"Who and what the hell is this, Abe?"

I turned to the voice, an older gentleman, balding, with a very angry expression on his face. I picked up the dobharchu, clutching it to my chest. Abe walked over to me and brought me over to him.

"This is Anne ni Manannan and her dobharchu pup. Anne, this is Director of the Bureau, Tom Manning."

I offered a hand, the director took it almost reluctantly. Abe began to explain the situation that led to my arrival here. I sat down in the chair Abe had recently vacated and tried not to fall asleep. However, the sleep deprivation was starting to kick in. I started to see things out of the shapes in the lab room. Frightening things, fomorians, the Ancient Demons, crept out of the shadows. My heart leapt into my throat and I stood to flee.

"Anne!"

I jolted back to reality. Abe had grabbed onto my arm. I looked at his hand questioningly. My mind struggled to form a sentence explaining my actions, but he seemed to sense what had happened.

"Director, I think we should find Anne a place to sleep. She's been up for a long time."

Whatever Abe had said to the director must have changed his mind about me, because he appeared more interested and less pissed than before. He nodded and stepped out of the way.

"Wait!" I said. "The dobharchu… He needs water to sleep in. At least… I think he'd prefer it."

One of the lab techs, now out of her massive suit, came over. She offered her hands to take the dobharchu.

"I'll take him. We have a nice tank we can put him in for observation. Don't worry. I'll take good care of him."

I handed the dobharchu, with a warning to be nice, and followed Abe out of the lab.

"You can sleep in my room for now, if you don't mind too much. I have a sofa bed in there. Tonight we'll get you a real bed."

Abe led me into his room, which was spare except for a desk, a short tank long enough to fit a human. Up against the wall was indeed a sofa bed that was already made. My small suitcase was on top of it, along with my purse which at that point I realized was no longer with me. Abe let out a small noise of surprise.

"Hmm. Seems Liz has already been here. You can meet her later, at dinner. Well, there's a bathroom next door where you can freshen up. I'll wake you up for dinner."

Abe left and I prepared myself for bed. There was indeed a unisex bathroom next door, in a dorm style fashion. Three bathroom stalls, three showers with small changing areas, and a three sinks. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I barely remembered to change clothes before I passed out without even getting under the sheets.


End file.
